Two Years
by Blue Eyed Dragon Girl
Summary: PRIS: Set a few weeks after Survival of the Silver. Zhane contemplates the many ways how life has changed while he was frozen for two years. One shot!


Two years… I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept. For two years I'd been hanging on the edge of death and was never even aware of it. Two years had gone by without me and I feel like I've missed a life time.

Now I realize two years certainly doesn't sound like a long time in the grand scheme of things. I've read science fiction novels about people being frozen for hundreds of years and waking up in brand new worlds where everything has changed. With that in mind, two years seems like nothing. There's not much that can happen or change that most people wouldn't be able to adjust to. Sure, some jacket may go out of fashion; some new gadget might be invented or upgraded, a new leader elected, but nothing so drastic that you can't adjust. So why do I feel like I've missed so much?

It's been two weeks since I woke up and Andros explained what had happened. Given the circumstances, I should be grateful I only lost two years. It could have been my life instead. But I still can't shake this feeling like I've missed more than just a few computer upgrades and fashion changes. I mean, two years may not be enough time to change the universe, but it's still enough time to concor a planet, scatter your people across the galaxy, and turn your best friend into a complete stranger.

I think that's what's been hitting me the hardest, Andros. When I first met his team I'd been genuinely surprised. Andros made friends? He joined a team? He _socialized_? It was a strange concept to wrap my head around but all in all I'd been happy for him. Andros had never exactly been the most outgoing person I'd met. Sure he could lead a group of soldiers or take charge of a situation, but when it came to things like asking some girl to dance, he always needed a little encouragement (which I had always been happy to give). He was certainly never anti-social though. He'd been independent but never a loner. So maybe things had changed for the better. Maybe my absence had forced him to make a few new friends and maybe learn to be a bit more social. I learned quickly though that that wasn't the case.

It turns out the friends he made he'd only just met them a few months ago. They were rangers from another planet that was currently being attacked my Dark Spector's forces… just like K0-35. They seemed friendly, eager to learn about the universe and even more eager to help protect their world in any way they could. They were a nice group of people and would definitely do some good in bringing Andros out of his shell. The problem was that Andros' shell had gotten a lot thicker since the last time I'd seen him. I think that was what had been bothering me the most about these past two years. I may have missed those two years, but Andros lived them… alone. For nearly a year and half since we'd lost our planet to Dark Spector Andros had been wandering the universe… alone. Sure, he continued his work for Zordon. I never expected him not to. But it was the fact that he just continued on alone. He never sought out to replace fallen comrades. He just moved on… alone. And that time alone seems to have taken a toll on my friend.

It's in his eyes where you see it the most. If you didn't know Andros that well you'd think he looked almost exactly the way he did two years ago. It's true in that sense. He doesn't look much older. Two years doesn't change a person that much physically, but it's in his eyes that you see something new… loneliness. Even with all these people around him, with me back, you can tell he's still lonely. I understand why though. Every time my eyes meet that deep hazel gaze I see it. He's still stuck behind the wall he's built up around himself these past two years. What's worse too is nothing I do seems to be able to get through. I'm beginning to get the feeling he doesn't want me to either. He's probably afraid of getting hurt again. I get that. I don't know what I would have done had our roles had been reversed and I'd been the one forced to brave the universe alone. Although with the way things are going, I may soon be forced to do just that.

I know that I've joined Andros' team for the moment, but I can already tell this is really only going to be a temporary arrangement. It's not that the team wouldn't welcome the idea of a new member. They've got a huge battle ahead of them and would take all the help they can get. I'm certainly here to help them when they need me but I've come to realize that I'm never really going to be part of the team. It's not anyone's fault either. We just lack that essential commonality that seems to unite all teams of rangers because at the end of the day, we're fighting for different planets. They're fighting for Earth and I'm still stuck fighting for a planet that I know has already been lost. Having lived through its loss, I get why Andros has managed to move on, but for some reason I just can't seem to let it go. Maybe it's because I know that some of our people are out there roaming the universe, maybe it's just my sense of duty as a ranger making feel the need to be proactive, or maybe it's because somewhere deep down I still believe defeating Dark Spector's forces freeing our planet would change things back to they way they were before. Either way, I still have this feeling in my gut that my mission hasn't ended… that even though the planet is deserted, K0-35 still needs me.

For now though all I can do is try and catch up with all that I've missed. I mean, two years may not sound like a long time, but in two years… I've missed a lot.


End file.
